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Hero of Oakvale
The Hero of Oakvale is the main protagonist in both Fable and its expansion, Fable: The Lost Chapters. He is the only playable character in both of the said games. His name is never directly mentioned in the games, but he is often referred to as "The Hero," "Farmboy," or simply "Boy." The people of Albion call this Hero by his customizable Hero title (purchased via Title Vendor), which is always "Chicken Chaser" at the beginning of the game. His appearance is also able to be changed, and thus depends on the player's preferences. In the cut-scenes narrated by the Guildmaster, he is depicted as having long dark brown or black hair, and clean-shaven. His outfit changes in almost every one of the cut-scenes. He is the most powerful Hero in Albion, because of his ancient bloodline leading back to the rulers of the Old Kingdom: the Archon. Because of this, he is a master of the three Hero traits: Strength, Skill, and Will. Biography Early Life The Hero is the child of the famous heroine, Scarlet Robe, who is often away from Oakvale due to her responsibilities as a Hero. Because of this, the Hero's father, Brom, looks after him and his older sister, Theresa, most of the time. The Hero starts off on a seemingly normal day, getting a birthday present for Theresa by either performing enough good deeds to earn gold from his father, or performing bad deeds in order to gain money. He eventually gets the present and gives it to his sister. As much as she wants to celebrate the day, she warns him of a strange dream she had: A vision of great terror, chaos, and pain. As they head back into the village, a man runs by screaming about a group of bandits attacking the village, determined to rob and murder the humble villagers as they search for the boy. The boy hides behind a nearby fence; however, Theresa is captured by the bandits. The bandits pillage long into the night. The blue sky becomes completely enveloped in a blanket of total darkness as a fierce inferno engulfs Oakvale, burning homes and taverns down to the ground. The boy is unable to do anything but listen to the shrill cries of the villagers desperately trying to defend themselves against the bandit horde. The simple people of the village prove an easy task for the bandits, and almost everyone is killed. The terrified boy returns to the town, but not a soul can be found; only destruction. He wanders to his home, where he is heartbroken to find the corpse of his father and begins to cry. Suddenly, a lone bandit charges straight towards the child. Fortunately, Maze, a powerful Hero and the head of the Heroes' Guild, appears and kills the bandit in a single attack, saving the young boy. Maze warns the boy that if he doesn't come with him, he too will become a victim of the Oakvale massacre. The boy, scared and confused, reluctantly agrees, and Maze teleports them both to the Guild. The Heroes Guild The boy is offered a home at the Guild, where he is given the opportunity to train to become a Hero himself; eager to avenge his family's death, he readily accepts Maze's offer. It was there that the boy spent the rest of his childhood, studying the ways of the Guild and Heroes, day and night, in the hopes that he might one day discover the bandits behind the vicious attack on Oakvale and take his revenge. There, he is accepted by the Guildmaster and begins training with Whisper, a fellow apprentice who becomes his rival and friend. After many years of intense training of both mind and body, he would, together with Whisper, graduate from the Guild and become a Hero. Life after the Guild As the boy begins his new life as a Hero, he gradually becomes more famous and more powerful than any Hero ever seen. The Hero either defends Orchard Farm alongside guards, or attacks it alongside bandits. Either way, the Hero meets Whisper once again, and they fight. Whisper is defeated and the Hero gets the reward from the Guild. He then escorts a pair of traders through Darkwood, defending them against balverines and an earth troll before reaching his destination: Barrow Fields. Nearby is his hometown of Oakvale, which has been rebuilt. He is recognized by a young girl who, now grown, he had helped in the opening scenes by recovering her teddy bear "Rosie" from a bully. Maze contacts the Hero with news that his sister may have survived the bandit raid, and advises him to seek out the "Bandit Seeress" of the Bandit King and former Hero, Twinblade. After fighting his way through the bandits' camp, he comes face-to-face with Twinblade, and after a short but brutal fight, the Hero defeats him. As he winds up his weapon for the final strike, he is stopped by the Seeress, who is none other than his own sister, Theresa. Theresa explains to her brother what happened after the day Oakvale was burned down, how she had been blinded by torture and ended up being saved by Twinblade's clan. Though blind, her other senses became greatly heightened and awakened an inner strength which focused her "dreams" into prophecies. She talks about their mother, a choice that the Hero would have to make someday, and gives him a letter she had written, along with a book about their bloodline. She then leaves in search of their mother after magically unlocking some hidden energy within the Hero, making him stronger, then forever leaves Twinblade. The Hero may have then finished Twinblade, or spared him; either way, assassins are sent after the Hero. The Hero's next step, to find out about his mother, is to search for Maze's "friend", known as "the Archaeologist", an expert on the Old Kingdom. This search takes the Hero to Witchwood, where he vanquishes a rock troll along the way to finding the Archaeologist behind a mysterious Demon Door. After opening the Demon Door, the Archaeologist leaves and goes to find a new hiding place. The Hero then returns to the Guild, where he learns that Knothole Glade is having a problem with balverines. Once there, he is attacked several times by the white balverine until he receives a Silver Augmentation for his weapon from the wife of the white balverine. With this, he drives the white balverine out of the village before taking the fight to its home in Witchwood Lake, where he defeats the white balverine and all its regular counterparts. This heroic deed makes the Knothole Glade Chieftain eager to nominate him for competition in the Witchwood Arena. The Hero is successful in the early rounds and fights many brutal opponents, eventually being joined by Whisper. They handily deal with several rounds of vicious opponents, including the mighty Arachanox, a gigantic scorpion. While celebrating their victory, a mysterious figure, Jack of Blades, appears and commands that the Hero and Whisper fight each other to the death. Here, the Hero stands with the choice to either kill his old friend, earning a reward for doing so, or let her live. After becoming the Arena Champion, the Hero meets Jack in the Hall of Heroes, and is told where he can find his mother, who had also been an Arena Champion. The Hero's rivalry begins with Whisper's older brother, Thunder, who is jealous of the attention that Lady Grey devotes to the newest Arena Champion. The Hero understands that, to find his mother, he must rescue the Archaeologist, who has been abducted from Bowerstone Jail by strange demons called minions. He cuts his way through hordes of minions to get to the Archaeologist before he is shipped off to prison, who tells the Hero that there is an ancient, hidden entrance to Bargate Prison, where Scarlet Robe is being held, on a dangerous road through the Lychfield Graveyard. The Hero is led to the crypt of a legendary Hero, Nostro, who alone can reveal the needed path and whose armor has been stolen by the Gravekeeper. After collecting the four pieces amongst countless undead, he returns each piece to the crypt, causing Nostro to signal a Demon Door close by to open, revealing the path to the hidden prison. The Hero makes his way through several tunnels to the prison and finally finds his mother. Just as the Hero and Scarlet are about to escape, Jack of Blades, who is the head of the prison, appears in their path, revealing that he had set up the rescue from the start to trap them both. Both the Hero and his mother are captured and locked away. Hunt for Jack of Blades At least one year goes by, and during this time, Jack is "free to roam Albion". Finally, the Hero finds the means of escape and, together with Scarlet, fights his way back through the tunnels, ultimately having to defeat a Kraken to escape. After a ferocious battle, he makes it back to Lychfield Graveyard, which is now seemingly peaceful. After a brief reunion with his mother, the Hero parts ways with her (though not before his mother unlocks another untapped source of power in his blood) to try and stop Jack from finding the Sword of Aeons, which will give him even more power. Scarlet goes to find Theresa while the Hero heads for Hook Coast to find the Septimal Key in which Jack needs to activate all the Focus Sites, which will lead him to the Sword. On his first trip to Hook Coast's old abbey, a magical barrier blocks his path, but his mother finds a book in Maze's quarters which can unlock the barrier. Upon returning to the Guild, he is a moment too late to save his mother from being kidnapped by Jack's minions. Nevertheless, he takes the book his mother has found and gives it to the Guildmaster, who is familiar with the arcane runes that will grant the Hero access to the abbey. He returns to Hook Coast and stands by the barrier as the Guildmaster reads the runes, unlocking the mystical force field. He then finds Maze, who has his sister imprisoned with magic. Maze lies that Theresa is being controlled by Jack. Theresa counters his claims, accusing Maze of joining Jack and betraying the Guild. Jack arrives and orders Maze to trap the Hero while he takes the Septimal Key, in the process revealing Maze's true allegiance. He teleports himself away so that he could activate the Focus Sites as Theresa uses her own Will abilities to free her brother before disappearing. The Hero and Maze then fight fiercely, their battle taking them all over Hook coast, culminating at the foot of the lighthouse. Maze's full power proves to be no match for the Hero and he is cut down. Before drawing his last breath, Maze reveals his motives for joining Jack and confesses that the Hero may be powerful enough to defeat Jack. He explains Jack's plan to activate all the Focus Sites around Albion and wishes the Hero success in his quest before dying. The Hero then chases Jack all over Albion to each of the four Focus Sites, hacking his way through the forces of evil, along with the help of Guild Apprentices, Guards, and the Heroes known as Briar Rose and Thunder. The Hero is not fast enough, and Jack manages to activate all the Focus Sites before heading for the Guild. The Hero rushes to his former home and when he arrives, the Guild is in flames. Jack has slain any who challenged his wrath, and has left the Guildmaster badly wounded at the base of a bookcase in the Guild Library. The Guildmaster informs the Hero that Jack's power is vast indeed and that they had no chance of stopping him, and that it is up to the Hero. As the Hero enters the Chamber of Fate, Jack mocks him and cuts Scarlet's throat in order to take the Sword of Aeons in hand. However, even with the Sword, Jack is overwhelmed by the Hero and, like his ancestor William Black had done ages before, the Hero destroys Jack's body utterly, casting his soul into the vortex that the Sword of Aeons had been removed from. He is now faced with the choice that Theresa had told him about so long ago: Take the Sword of Aeons and strike his sister down to have power greater than even Jack dreamed of, or destroy it and its darkness forever. The Return of Jack of Blades An entire year passes, and the world settles back into the monotony of life, and the Guild is rebuilt. The Hero walks around Albion for a year, seeking a new purpose in his life. With Jack gone, people don't have as much need of Heroes. The Hero is summoned to the Guild by the Guildmaster and Briar Rose, and they receive a message from Scythe, an undead Hero in the Northern Wastes, about dangerous creatures called Summoners, and that the "Chosen One" should open the gate to the prophets and take the ancient relic called the Fire Heart. The Hero then has to solve a puzzle called the Mystery of Day and Night; if he filled the puzzle with suns, he let one of the prophets free, but if he fills it with moons, he kills one. He then collects the Fire Heart. If the Hero didn't take the Sword of Aeons, he returns to the Guild and finds a clue in Maze's quarters that leads him to the legendary Avo's Tear. He, together with Briar Rose, travels to Hook Coast and puts the Fire Heart in the lighthouse when, suddenly, Summoners attack, and the two Heroes have to stop them. When the Summoners are defeated and the Fire Heart charges up, the Ship of the Drowned appears. The Hero travels on the ship to the Northern Wastes. From the coast, he travels to Snowspire Village to talk with Scythe. Scythe's plan is to ask the Snowspire Oracle about the evil that curses the Northern Wastes, but in order to do that, he needs some glyphs to awaken it, so he sends the Hero to the Necropolis, a great city inhabited by ghosts. There, he searches and digs for the glyphs while fighting the monsters that live in the city. After finding all four glyphs, he returns to Snowspire Village and awakens the Oracle, who tells him that the evil is, in fact, Jack of Blades. Jack now dwells in Archon's Folly behind the Bronze Gate, the opening of which, it was foretold, marked the end of the world. The Hero is told that, in order to open the Bronze Gate, he has to collect, with Jack's mask, the souls of three specific Heroes to place in the Archon's Shrine. These Heroes were: a King of the Arena, the Heroine, and the Oldest. These descriptions could match a lot of powerful Heroes. The Hero can now hear Jack's thoughts as he tries to manipulate the Hero to kill Thunder, Briar Rose, and the Guildmaster to fulfill the quota, while the Hero can follow the path of good and try to take the souls of already-dead Heroes and leave others unharmed, taking the souls of an unknown arena fighter, his mother, and Nostro. After opening the Bronze Gate, the Hero enters Archon's Folly and faces Jack again, who takes on the form of a dragon. After a terrible battle, the Hero once again emerges victorious as he casts down Jack's new form and receives the villain's fabled mask, which he finally realizes contains the being's soul. Scythe telepathically explains to the Hero that he must cast the mask into the flames to destroy it forever, all the while the mask strives to convince the Hero to wear it, thus being Jack's new host. The Hero feels Jack's influence within him and his promise for power tempts him to the edge. At this point, the Hero has two choices: Wear the mask and become the most evil being in the world, or cast the mask into the flames. It is unknown to the history of Albion exactly which choice he made, although it is known that he had eventually sired children before retiring in his old age to a secluded cottage at the Serenity Farm in Oakfield. Powers and Abilities As a descendant of the ancient Archons, the Hero of Oakvale became the most powerful Hero of his age, and eventually rose to become one of the most powerful Heroes of all time. After passing the vigorous trials of Hero training, despite suffering through the loss of his family, he emerged a master of Strength, Skill, and an incredible variety of Will powers. When only a young man, the Hero managed to defeat the feared ex-Hero Twinblade and his entire army of united bandits, displaying not only Strength, but also cunning. He was also able to defeat enemies, such as endless hordes of hobbes, nymphs, balverines, trolls, and the long-elusive minions. Passing through all the Arena challenges alive, a feat duplicated by few Heroes in all of history, the Hero of Oakvale further demonstrated his skill when slicing through the ancient armies of Lychfield Graveyard. Despite being locked up in Bargate Prison for a year, the Hero managed to escape, defeating some of the best-trained in the Albion Guard using only the most basic weapons. Once Jack of Blades' plot was revealed, the Hero also skillfully lead the charge against Jack's minion horde, defeating Maze, who was considered to be one of the greatest Heroes of the era, in the process. Catching up to Jack, the Hero slew him in a mighty one-on-one duel, performing an act that even the legendary William Black never could. After a year passed, the march of time did nothing to dull the Hero's skills in combat. Demonstrating remarkable will and fortitude, the Hero survived the lonely journey to the forgotten Northern Wastes, able to emerge triumphant in his battles against the deadly creatures that called it home. When the Hero met Jack for the final time, he once again duplicated the impossible feat, slaying Jack of Blades for good. Fable II In Fable II, after 500 years, the Hero of Oakvale is dead. He doesn't make any appearances in the game, but is mentioned in some books and stories. The Hero is said to have wielded the Sword of Aeons, yet in the Chamber of Fate, it shows him taking the good choice by casting it away. Also, Theresa is alive, which is impossible if the Hero wielded the Sword of Aeons, as it required him to kill her to wield it. He might have wielded Avo's Tear, which was crafted to look like the Sword of Aeons, thus confusing in-game historians (also, nobody had ever really seen the Sword before, so they would probably only recognize it by its immense power). There is a Demon Door in Oakfield where many believe the Hero of Oakvale spent his final years in a retreat called Serenity Farm, as it is written in the description of the property. Trivia * There exists, in-game, a book named "The Trials of Aarkan"; the events of said book are markedly similar to the Hero's youth and quest. * In Fable II, there is a book stating that the Hero had children, but when the Guild was destroyed, all records were lost along with it. The Hero of Bowerstone is likely to be a descendant of him, as the three Hero virtues are passed solely by blood, and the characters of both games possess all three virtues, which is a rarity even among Heroes. * In Fable: The Journey, Theresa mentions that she used to hide in the fields with her brother. * Performing enough expressions to Theresa in Fable II will cause her to say "You remind me of someone I once knew long, long ago". * In the book "The Hero of Oakvale" in Fable II, it states that the Hero of Oakvale used the Sword of Aeons against Jack of Blades, creating a paradox because if the Hero of Oakvale used the Sword of Aeons, it means Theresa was sacrificed. Though this may be a historical error on part of in-game archaeologists, as the Sword of Aeons looks almost identical to Avo's Tear. It should also be noted that the paintings in the Chamber of Fate depict the "good" ending where the Hero of Oakvale destroyed the Sword of Aeons. ** It becomes even more likely that it is an in-game historical mistake when taken into consideration the fact that the book mentions the Hero of Oakvale wielding the Sword of Aeons against Jack of Blades' first form. This is impossible as it is Jack himself wielding the Sword during the first battle with him. * One of the loading screens of Fable II says that the Hero is rumoured to have killed the Guildmaster. Whether there is any truth behind this rumour is left unstated, but is likely a joke for comic relief as it states he carved "Your health is low" into the Guildmaster's forehead. * If the Hero retrieves Avo's Tear in Fable:The Lost Chapters, it is implied that he is worthy of being buried at the grave where he found the weapon. * The Hero's hair is very unique in the Fable games, in that it seems to naturally change colour as he ages. When he is a child, his hair is brown. When he's a teenager, it has turned to black. He later has the possibility of it turning blond. * In Fable III, his Hero doll will sometimes make a cameo when changing the ornaments on furniture in houses owned by the player. * The Hero's underwear has a Union Flag design. * The Hero of Oakvale is the only playable character in the main Fable series that can be killed in combat; the Hero of Bowerstone and the Hero of Brightwall can only be "knocked out"; and the Hero of Southcliff is always triumphant during battle cut-scenes. es:Héroe_de_Oakvale ru:Герой_Оуквэйла pl:Bohater z Dębowej Doliny Category:Fable Characters